Hoboken PD chief recalls childhood encounter with late VP Walter Mondale

Hoboken Police Chief Ken Ferrante shared with News 12 New Jersey memories of his childhood encounter as a young boy with former Vice President Walter Mondale, who passed away Monday at 93.
Mondale was known for his civil rights advocacy. He visited New Jersey during his vice presidency under President Jimmy Carter.
Ferrante remembered the excitement of his visit to this day, getting to shake the hand of a vice president as a kid.
"He had an aura about him and shook hands with everybody along the line and [I] just remember being a 6-year-old kid shaking the hands of a vice president," Ferrante recalled. He also remembered Mondale's impact on the Garden State.
"Government was about trying to make community better and that was definitely the vision when you had a vice president coming here trying to put billions of dollars in a small community like this, but seeing the vision of we're right across from Manhattan. This transportation hub needed a lot more improvement, and it was going to help this region. Look at what Hoboken is nowadays, look what downtown Jersey City is, and it's because of those decisions that were made in 1979. It's pretty amazing," Ferrante said.
Mondale passed away at his home in Minneapolis.